You Belong With Me
by midnightcas
Summary: Based on Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" / Kate Argent is definitely cheer captain and Stiles...Stiles is not.
1. Chapter 1

Stiles and Scott waited for Derek to come out of the locker room after his Lacrosse game so the three of them could go meet up with the others for a guy/pizza/movie night. Stiles shoved his hands in his pockets and grumbled under his breath. Patience never was his strong suit. Scott glanced down at his watch.

"It's quarter to nine already. We're gonna be late."

"What is Coach even saying to them anyways? Great game. We won, like literally always. Jackson, stop being a complete ass and pass the ball a little more."

"Stop being a complete what?" came a voice behind them.

"What?" Stiles asked defensively, "You guys could've had like eight more goals if you looked wide to Boyd or even left to Greenberg. Worst center in Beacon Hills history."

"Shut up, Stilinski."

"Are you sure you can't come tonight?" Scott asked, interrupting their banter.

"Yeah," Jackson sighed, "My parents want to leave for Aspen as soon as I get home."

If you asked, Jackson would deny it, but "boys nights" were his favorite. He'd suggest them most often, along with being the first one to say that they were dumb, pointless and stupid.

"Fine," Stiles said, "Steal one of those fancy chocolates the leave under the pillow for me."  
>"Sure."<p>

Jackson reached in and gave each of them a quick hug.

"I'll text you," he promised before turning to meet Lydia, who refused to talk to any of them (besides Jackson of course) on the day of their "boys nights". It made Stiles furious. I mean, they had _girl_ _night_ and day and weekend and week and month.

"Hey Lydia!" he cried, waving obnoxiously, causing the couple to roll their eyes and continue off.

There was a brief silence before he cried out to the moon, "WHERE THE FUCK IS DEREK?"

He was immediately put in a headlock and bent forward.  
>"Agh, hey, Derek, stop!"<p>

"Are you talking about me?"

"Derek," he whined angrily.

There was a satisfied laugh and Stiles was released. For good measure he made sure to push off Derek as hard as he could to get away, which, of course, resulted in his stumbling over where Derek had put his bag. He would have probably face planted if Derek, still laughing, hadn't grabbed his arm and righted him.

"Don't touch me," he demanded, shaking out of his grip again, "And you," he said hissing at Scott, "warn a brother next time."

Scott had the decency to show a little shame, but he was still laughing. Derek's apology was a slight tussle of Stiles' hair and a smile.

Derek and Stiles, after feuding most of their elementary/middle school year had finally become friends at the end of eighth grade when they had been paired as lab partners by Mr. Harris. The two, of course had been absolutely not alright with it. They argued about everything. One time, Stiles had come home with a story about how Derek told him that he was _breathing_ too loudly. Which of course started a competition to see who could annoy the other more, which of course ended in detention. Scott had told him to let it go. But this was Stiles. He still held a grudge on Scott for telling the truth to his father after they had broken a window playing baseball. They so would have gotten away with it too...So that's where their friendship began. In little eight grade detentions, nearly every week. Their parents had to go to the school a couple of times, they had to attend sessions with the guidance counselor, they had to do some community service for blowing up part of the playground in an argument about measurements gone wrong.

"Why do you guys hate each other so much?" Their parents would always ask them.

And "We don't hate each other, _really_," had always been the two's responses.

But if anyone else had asked them, it was because he was "big, rude, dumb and broody" or "never stopped talking and was annoying."

Over the course of this, the Stilinski family and the Hale family had become close friends, seeing that they had to be on the phone together quite often, in regards to their sons, (Camden, Derek's older brother even became a deputy who worked closely with the Sheriff) and they would often run into each other when picking the two up from detention. Eventually they started a ride exchange, which made no sense to either Derek nor Stiles. On odd days, the Sheriff would pick them up, on even days one of the Hale children, if not Talia, would be there. After going through all of that, winter break came along, meaning no school for two weeks, and no detention...and no Stiles and no Derek. But apparently, neither of them got the memo, since both of them spent the entire two weeks talking about each other. Griping and complaining about "this kid, Derek Hale" or "this Stilinski kid". Laura finally punched Derek in the arm and told him to ask the kid to hang out because he obviously liked him. And behind the scenes, Scott was doing the same to school came back along and they were as civil as ever, for the longest time. They finished projects at the Stilinski house (Derek refused to bring _anybody_ home, scared that their supernatural abilities would outweigh their natural ones and scare any friends he may have made away), they didn't go at each other every second, they even hung out on the weekend, civilly, when the Sheriff had business out of town (Melissa and Scott were on vacation) and he asked the Hales to watch him. It was civil. It was _nice_. That was until Malia moved into Beacon Hills. When Stiles started "dating" her, or whatever eighth graders do, the two were back at each other's throats. Quite literally too. On one occasion there was a _physical _fight. Stiles had shoved Derek, which got him really wound up and hit Stiles and something happened and a teacher got punched in the face and it was all just marvelous, really. They had practiced the silent treatment for a whole week after that. It wasn't until Stiles and Malia broke up, days after the spring fling because Stiles wasn't as good of a dancer as Brad was and didn't help Malia out of the car like Jackson did for Lydia, even _though_ Stiles and Malia had come separately, as Stiles tried to explain. It was whatever. Stiles didn't like her that much anyway. She was just pretty. It was a bummer though, especially because right around the time they broke up, she tried to date Scott. But, best bros for life, right?

"Sorry about Malia," Derek had said, just like Laura had instructed him to.

Stiles rolled his eyes, "Don't pretend my pain doesn't please you."  
>Derek started to defend himself, but Stiles had jumped on to the next subject, telling Derek that the next lab they were doing consisted of a lot of salt and how demons wouldn't be able to come near them for weeks and something about two guys with a shotgun. Derek had no idea what he had been talking about, but he was just happy that the two were <em>talking<em> again. And that's when he realized he didn't hate Stiles, or dislike him, or whatever. He actually kind of _liked _him. And when Derek asked Stiles if he wanted to join him and a few other of his friends to go and see the Batman movie, and yes he could bring Scott, did Stiles realized that he kind of liked Derek too. And though the bickering and bantering never stopped, after that they became incredibly close, not as close as Scott and Stiles, but maybe the next best thing. Especially when Scott started dating Allison and couldn't balance relationship with friendship in the beginning. It had sucked and Derek had known, previously going through the same thing when his two friends, Erica and Boyd, had started dating...each other. So that's how they were where they were. A lot of suffering, but none the less.

"Come on," Derek said, "I'm sick of waiting for you. We're going to be late."  
>"Us?!" Stiles cried.<p>

Derek just smiled and gave Stiles a playful shove before walking in the direction Jackson had gone. Scott and Stiles caught up to him, finally the three were on their way to their stress-free night of pizza and bad movies, and probably some emotional heart to hearts about why the first star war movies were 10xs better than I II & III (Danny). They eventually got ahead of Derek but stopped to turn around when they heard his voice. He shot Stiles a desperate look.

"What?"

"What? What? No wait...Babe, listen to me, listen."  
>"Kate," Stiles explained.<p>

"Kate, it was a joke...really...I swear...Kate...No, no. Kate!"

He hung up the phone grumbling, "Jesus Christ."

"What?"  
>"Nothing, I just...I mean I guess I said something wrong in the text I sent earlier. I gotta go."<br>"Where?" Stiles demanded.

"I have to go home and see Kate."

"Derek," Scott approached him slowly in words, "did you forget about tonight?"  
>"No, no of course not," he said, looking between the two, "I just...I have to make this up to her. She's really upset."<br>"Dude," Stiles said.

"What'd you even say?"  
>"I don't know. Something about her clothes and it being cold out I think?"<p>

"She probably thinks you called her a slut or something," Greenberg said as he passed them, having had heard the situation.

"I didn't mean to," Derek defended himself.

"We all know that. She doesn't though."

"Yeah," Derek said, frowning down at his phone at the texts coming in, "I gotta go."

"Derek!" Stiles protested.

"Stiles-guys, I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, I swear!"

He ran off towards the parking lot.

"No, it's fine, we didn't just _wait here_ for an _entire_ hour for you or anything."

"Stiles...we gotta go. They're waiting for us."  
>"This is unbelievable."<p>

"Stiles," Scott beckoned, already halfway to the car.

When they got there, Scott flipped through the radio, ending on Roxanne by The Police as they pulled out. Stiles remembered Derek saying something about how Kate hated all eighties bands except for The Smiths and some Blondie. He rolled his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

It was Monday. Stiles hadn't spoken to Derek all weekend. He spent most of it at the station with his dad and the rest with Scott and Melissa. It was the first time the two had spent a weekend completely apart since middle school. If Stiles wasn't with Scott, which was most of the time, he was with Derek. And if that wasn't true he was with the rest of the group or just alone. But Stiles didn't do alone very well. He got bored. So on Monday, he had forgotten all about the Derek issue until he actually saw Derek. Stiles didn't know why he was so mad about it. I mean, Kate was Derek's girlfriend. It was what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to be wrapped around her little finger and spoil her and be apart of his life. But the way he did it, it was just a dick move, okay?!

"Stiles!" he called as he saw the two approaching, "Scott."

He just gave the man a curt look and stopped.

"Hey, where were you all weekend? I called your house like seven times."

"I was with him," he said shortly, nodding towards Scott.

"Oh, uh, yeah. So do you want to go do something after school today? My practice ends early."

"Derek!" someone called.

The group turned to see Kate standing there with Victoria and Jennifer. She never seemed to be alone. Derek nodded at her, smiling.

"So?" He turned back to Stiles.

"Can't," he finally said, shrugging as he grabbed onto Scott's arm and continued down the hallway.

Derek ran his teeth over his teeth as he watched the two walk off, whispering hastily to one another. He was about to listen in, when Kate wrapped around him and connected their lips.

"Hey, don't ignore me," she requested sweetly, taking his hand in hers and standing close.

He smiled slightly and leaned down to kiss her, "I wasn't."

"What'd they have to say?"  
>"Nothing."<br>"Is something the matter?"

"Stiles was acting weird."  
>"Derek," she cackled, hanging off him, "It's Stiles. He <em>is<em> weird."

He gave her a look, "He's my best friend you know."

"I wouldn't worry about him babe. He'll get over whatever it is."

Derek didn't see Stiles for the rest of the day.

"Don't you think you're being a bit harsh on him?" Scott had whispered as they walked away.

"No. He can either have just Kate or the both of us. He needs to chose. It's not the first time I've been ditched for that witch."  
>"That doesn't make sense-"<p>

"I know!"  
>"Stiles, it's a relationship. You have to expect that he'll spend some time with her."<br>"Spending time with her and ditching your friends after you all planned an event are two totally different things. This is not unreasonable."

"No, but...again, don't you think you're being a little harsh?"  
>"I'm leaving for my Senior Leave and not coming back for science. Get my notes for me?"<br>"Sure."

So now it had been about a week since the whole Derek skipping out on everyone thing. But Stiles was still mad. He hadn't spoken to him since Monday. He ignored all his texts, called in sick when Jackson asked if he wanted to go to a movie with everyone and even skipped going to see the game. But he heard, from Scott, that Kate was there, so he was sure Derek didn't even miss him. Kate was _the girl_. She was literally cheer captain, on the soccer team, class treasurer, probably would be the Prom Queen. She rarely made it to Derek's games. She normally had to cheer for football and other times, she had other things to do. She made it to about two games every season, _maybe_. And Derek, Derek was _the guy_. He was the star lacrosse player, starting baseball pitcher, captain on both teams, he was hot, he was rich, he was a Hale. It only made sense that they would date. But Kate just seemed to make him miserable. Laura had always told Stiles to make sure that when in a relationship, he should be adding to his life and not making another, separate part of it. Apparently, she had forgotten to tell Derek that. He had been completely excluded from the rest of the group ever since he started dating Kate, which was about for 10 months now. It also didn't help that Kate didn't like Stiles and had made that painfully clear when she told Derek that he wasn't allowed to talk to him. Derek, of course, refused, but come on. So Stiles wasn't the most _popular_ person in school, but he knew he wasn't the _least_ tolerable person there was, especially in his grade (although Derek and Jackson liked to tell him differently). And while Kate and Derek were known as the "Power Couple" Stiles knew he was miserable. Well...miserable was sort of excessive. _Unhappy_ would be the better world. Derek hasn't been himself since he and Kate started going out. He hadn't completely _changed_, he was still the grumpy, annoying, stupid Derek Stiles had always known, but there was a certain element to him, like a restriction. Like she was restricting him.

It was 9:15 when the bell rang. He skidded down the stairs, hoping it was pizza. No. No, it wasn't pizza. It was Derek.

His smug smile fell when he saw Stiles' expression drop.

"Uh," Stiles' intelligent mind took over as he stood there, dumbfounded.

He was about to shut the door and go back to watching Prison Break reruns-there was nothing Derek could say right now that would make him suddenly un-upset...but the sudden worry in his green eyes, however, perked Stiles' interest. It took Stiles a few minutes to realize that Derek was _nervous_. That Derek Hale was nervous. This guy had never been nervous in his _life_. And no one in the entire world had _ever_ been nervous to talk to Stiles...like _ever_.

"You weren't at my game," came his explanation to why he was there in a low voice.

The statement threw him. Later, Stiles realized that he should have pointed out that it wasn't _his_ game. Isaac, Danny, Jackson and Boyd played too. But in it's entirety, all Stiles could claim was that he was busy.

"Listen," Derek said, pushing his way past Stiles into the house.

"Sure," Stiles grumbled, still facing out to where Derek had previously been, "Come in."

When they had met, Derek had been 6 and Stiles had been 4. Now, Derek was 18, he was six feet tall with a six-pack, amazing teeth, stubble, caterpillar eyebrows and killer jawline. But he still had the same deep, emotional, hard green eyes, the same humor and the same broodiness he'd had when Stiles knew him as a pudgy middle schooler.

Stiles shut the door and nearly turned into Derek's chest.

"Stiles," he said, grabbing hold of his upper arms, leaning down and looking dead in his eyes, "I know what I did was really stupid and dick-ish and-and-"

Derek was never too good with personal space. Actually, none of the Hales were. Laura used to (and still does) plant herself right next to Stiles when he would come over. She'd nearly sit on his lap or be casually bumping and touching him. The first time he had met Talia, after he and Derek had become friends and Derek _finally_ manned up and brought Stiles home, she had given him a hug. Even Derek's older brothers, after _they_ sized him up and made him out to be an 'okay guy' as Camden had put it, had tackled him to the floor in a game of a Nerf Gun shoot out when Derek's younger cousins had come over and begged the older kids to play with them. Cora, Derek's younger sister, made it a habit to grab at Stiles and hold his hand when she could. It used to make Stiles uncomfortable, but he eventually got used to it. It made him feel safe and secure. He felt loved and like he was part of the family.

"-I'm sorry."

Aaaaaand, that was it. He folded. He didn't know what he expected. That he'd stay mad at Derek forever? That they'd never talk again? That'd be impossible. Ever since middle school they've never spent more than a full week apart, and even then it was for a vacation and even that was a struggle. The next year though, they had brought Stiles along with them.

Stiles looked down, not knowing what to say. He took in Derek's appearance. His hair was wet, probably from sweat and he wore his warmup suit and Stiles could see the uniform under his jacket. He had most likely come right from the game. The two squabbled all the time, but it was ignored with the passing of the subject. And sure they've had some pretty serious fights, but they never required an official apology. But Derek had screwed up big time. And he knew it. Bros before Hoes, right? He put the girl he's been seeing for 10 months before his friends he had known for 10 _years_ and Stiles who had been by his side, unwavering and faithful for 5 years now. And Derek _was_ sorry.

As it turns out, Kate hadn't even wanted to see him. She was with Victoria and a few other of her friends. And after discovering this, Derek had been too embarrassed to even drive past the Stilinski house. So he took the long way home and sat up watching bad movies all night.

"Where's Stiles?"

"Go away Laura."

"Where's Stiles?"

"Go. Away."

"I thought all you guys were hanging out."  
>"Laura."<br>"Did you have a fight?"  
>"LAURA!"<br>"You did!"  
>"No we didn't."<p>

"Sure."

That was how his whole week had gone. Every day when he came home from school _on time_, someone would ask. Because they all knew Stiles and how he liked to talk and talk and talk and it would take them _forever_ to leave the school. Monday it was Cora, who wanted to show Stiles her 100 she got on her spelling test Stiles had helped her study for, on Tuesday it was Camden, Wednesday, after asking the whole weekend as well, it was Laura. And finally, by Thursday, Talia was asking him.

"Mom...I screwed up."

"Derek?"

"I," he sighed, knowing that everyone in the house was listening in on him, "I was supposed to hangout with everybody after the game, but Kate was angry at me for something I said as a joke in a text message."  
>"So?"<br>"So, instead of going to Stiles' I went to Kate's house."

"Derek-"  
>"I <em>know<em>."  
>"I know you know. You made a commitment and then, well frankly, you blew your friends off for your girlfriend."<p>

"Mom I know, but-"  
>"But what?"<br>"I don't know."

"Derek. Friends are there for you forever. If you think that you'll go on to marry Kate and start a family with her, then that's fine. But where was her loyalty to you when you had an argument with that Adrian guy. Where was she before you started dating? Your friends were there. And they still are. And they'll probably be there when you and Kate breakup and you start dating someone new. And when you make dumb mistakes like this again, they'll be there for that too."

Derek sighed deeply.

"And Stiles? What does he have to say about this?"

Derek bit his lip.

Talia stood up and wrapped her arms around Derek.

"So, he's mad?"

"Furious."

"That's because he's loyal."

"What?"  
>"He's the most loyal human I've ever met in my long years of living. And he expects that level of loyalty from his friends, especially you and Scott. And you should be able to give him that. Derek, you need to show these qualities. I know you have them. Your father knows you have them. Stiles knows you have them. So show them. You directly violated that mutual trust between you. Something a true friend should never have to question, you just took it right out of the equation."<br>"Well? How am I supposed to fix it? He's being ridiculous about it. He won't answer my texts, my calls, he turned down plans. He's being childish."

"While Stiles may have a different way of dealing with anger then you, it doesn't mean it's childish. What does he tell you when you're upset?"  
>"That I'm acting childish," Derek had mumbled.<p>

"Exactly. Just a simple face to face conversation, show him that you're actually sorry instead of just saying it, it goes a long way."

"Have you even gone to see him?"  
>"No."<p>

"Because you're mad at him for being mad at you."

"Mom-"

"What if-"  
>"He'll forgive you."<br>"Yeah, what if he doesn't?"  
>"He will."<p>

Derek sighed, "Fine."

Later that nights, when everyone was gone and it was only he and Laura in the house, he called Stiles. Voicemail. He leaned against the door frame and ran a gruff hand down his face. It was then that he spotted Laura's phone on her bed. There was a tug in his stomach, but he reached for it anyway. It rang twice before he heard Stiles' tired voice on the other side of the line.  
>"Laura?"<br>"Stiles!"

"Derek?"

"Stiles, listen-"  
>"Seriously right now? I don't want to talk to you."<p>

His words were hard and definite.  
>"Stiles, you're being childish," he barked out in rage.<p>

"Me? You're calling me off of your sister's phone! I'm not in the mood to talk to you, if I was, I would have answered your call!"  
>"Why are you ignoring me? I'm trying to fix things here!"<p>

"Well you're doing a pretty shitty job of it!"  
>"How am I supposed to talk to you about it when you're avoiding me? Stop being an idiot!"<p>

"I'm not the fucking idiot in this situation!"

They were yelling now. Both in a blinded rage, not thinking. Just yelling. Not bickering. Fighting. Tearing at each other. Anything they could get at.

"Stiles, she's my girlfriend. She's part of my life too!"  
>"She's not the <em>only<em> part of it!"  
>"You sound like a jealous eighth grader!"<p>

"Me? You're the one who nearly forbid I dated that girl!"  
>"You were only going to date her for the sex."<br>"So? Isn't that why you date Kate?"

"Fuck off Stiles."

"Oh, nothing to say to that one, huh?"

"Well at least I have a girlfriend."  
>"What are you saying? That I'm incapable of getting one?"<br>"Says the virgin."

There was a brief silence, "You're a fucking dick." Venomous.

"Oh, nothing for that one?"  
>"Fuck you, Derek!"<p>

"Sorry, someone has that covered."  
>"Really? Is that why Kate is hooking up with Adrian after the football games?"<p>

"Are you serious with me right now?"  
>"Yeah, you might notice it too if you weren't so busy being super team captain flying high on your ego all the time."<br>"Well at least I can play a sport!"  
>"At least I can pass basic math!"<p>

"I fucking passed math!"  
>"Yeah well have fun passing fucking Calculus <em>this <em>year."

He heard a click and in an ill tempered rage, hucked the phone against the opposite wall. He was breathing heavily and his eyes twitched between the beta yellow and his natural green color. It was then that he noticed Laura standing in the doorway, leaning up against the frame. He arms were crossed and her presence was now well established.

"One, you're buying me a new phone. And two, if I have to find someone else to do my history homework, I'm gonna kill you."

Stiles had been to all of Derek's Varsity Lacrosse games, except for two. He had been sick for one and the other he was stuck babysitting his cousins. And no way was he bringing them to the game, Derek, because unlike some people, Stiles liked to watch the game. And knowing himself, he'd lose _one of_ the five kids. So when Stiles didn't show up today, Derek, at first, was worried. Then he felt guilty, then angry, then sad. He had a pretty sucky first half. When Kate showed up around half time, his spirits lifted a little, but Stiles' presence was still missed. And especially after last night's "conversation". They won, thanks to Danny, being the outstanding goalie he was, and to Isaac and Liam, for picking up Derek's slack. Finstock had nearly pulled him in the third quarter. He should have been able to play. Stiles shouldn't be making him this upset that he couldn't even do the one thing he'd been doing since he was seven. But he was. And Kate was watching. Wonderful. The final was 9-14. Derek had only scored three of them.

In the locker room, Jackson approached him.

"Where's your boy?"

The Lacrosse team had come to call Stiles, "Derek's Boy" after Derek had punched the Senior Captain in the face when, in Derek's freshmen year, the guy tried to pick on Stiles. Talia had only scolded him lightly before rewarding him with a hug and some ice cream.

Derek shrugged, "I don't know."

"He mad at you? I know he wasn't busy tonight."

Jackson _knew_ where Stiles was. He knew what happened when he blew them off, and what happened on the phone. He wasn't stupid. He knew how to fix this.

Derek nodded.

"Oh! That's right. Scott told me that you skipped out on the boys the other night...for Kate," Jackson miraculously remembered, taking off his gloves.

"Shut up Jackson! Like you've never done that for Lydia!"

"Hey, hey, calm down. I was just going to say-I've done it before. And an apology goes a long way."

"Stiles?"

"It's...it's okay."  
>"Oh thank God," Derek breathed, throwing Stiles into his chest and hugging him.<p>

"I'm sorry man, really. I know I shouldn't have done that, it's just-"  
>"Derek." Stiles cut him off, "It's fine."<p>

"I'm sorry."  
>"Me too," Stiles sighed, returning the tight hug to the best of his ability.<p>

They made their way to the kitchen, letting the awkwardness run its course.

"I promise," Derek said climbing the stool at the island, "I'll never do it again."  
>"You will," Stiles said definitely as he reached up for the hot chocolate mix.<p>

"Stiles-"  
>"Derek, you're dumb," he snuck a look at Derek's now offended face, "You're going to do it again, whether it's with Kate or some other girl. I'll try not to be so mad about it next time."<p>

"You sound like my mother, Stiles, there won't be a next time."

"Derek, don't make promises you can't keep," he asked distractedly, reaching up into the cabinet again, in search of two mugs.

"Stiles," Derek said lowly, making his way behind Stiles, mirroring his body by reaching up and taking hold of Stiles' wrist. Stiles' jumped, and slowly turned towards him.

"Derek-"

He heard Stiles' heartbeat skip and felt him tense against him.  
>"Stiles," he said, leaning down to look into his eyes, "<em>You're<em> dumb. I'm telling you that I'll never do it again."  
>They were so close. Derek could have easily leaned in an inch closer and they'd be kissing. Their noses brushed together and they both froze. Stiles' parted lips came together.<p>

Stiles wasn't going to kiss his best friend. Not in a million years.

Derek was about to kiss his best friend. Why did he want to? What was he thinking? He wasn't. He wasn't thinking. He was acting on instinct. He loved Stiles. He loved his best friend. And he had missed him. So, a kiss, he concluded, was just a symbol of love. He'd kiss his brothers and cousins and parents.

Derek was about to _kiss_ his best friend.

Stiles wanted to kiss his best friend.

Derek couldn't do it.

Stiles was going to.

Did Derek know what he was doing?

Wait, did Stiles want to kiss _him_ though?

Did Derek even want to kiss Stiles?

Would it be awkward?

Was he making this all up in his head?

Derek began to panic.

Stiles began to panic.

They couldn't.

They had to.

What would happen if they didn't?

But what would happen if they did?

What about Kate?

What about them?

Stiles looked down, breaking the hard air.

"Do you want Chili Powder or Cayenne?"

Derek, in an attempt to make their situation a bit less, fell into Stiles, hugging him again, nuzzling his nose into the crook of Stiles' neck. He felt comfortable with him, even despite the odd situation they had been bound in only a moment before.

"Cayenne."

"Derek, I can't move when you're on top of me."

"Then don't move."  
>"Derek!"<p>

Stiles' father walked in the front door and took the left turn to walk through the kitchen to eventually end up at the stairs. This drove Stiles crazy. His dead felt the need to do a clean sweep of the whole house everytime he got home. He would first go through the kitchen, hang his coat up in the back hall, then he'd go through the small pantry, grab a snack, put it on the table in the living room, go up the stairs, check and see how Stiles is doing, go to the bathroom, walk by the entertainment room, peek in to see if Stiles was in there, it was his secondary location, go to the bathroom, change and head back down stairs. It drove the younger Stilinski batty. But he appreciated the thoughtfulness of it too. Making sure he wasn't going to be sporadically attacked in his own home anytime soon. It was..._nice_.

"Hello boys," he had called, not missing a beat as he continued on in his usual routine.

It was nothing out of the ordinary for the two of them to be found in strange and unexplainable positions. The first few times the Sheriff had been skeptical, but the two had just been in middle school, so there was an air of innocence. By the time there could have been any intent, he had gotten used to it and just took it in stride.

"Hey Mr. Stilinski."  
>"Hi Dad!"<p>

"How was the game?"

"We won," Derek shrugged.

"Good! How many points did you have tonight?"  
>"Three," he muttered.<p>

He saw Stiles giving him a strange look from the corner of his eye.

"Three?" The Sheriff mused, he stopped however, catching the boys sour attitude towards it, "nice job!"

"Thank you," he smiled, "Oh, Sheriff. There's a party tonight. Do you mind if I drag Stiles along with me to it?"

"Um, no," Stiles said, "Stiles was not consulted about this party."  
>"Whose party? Will there be alcohol?"<p>

"It's Ethan and Aidan's. You know, the twins on the team?"  
>"Yes."<p>

"Their parents will be home. It's just a small team get together for the victory."  
>"Alright."<br>"No."

"We'll probably stay over at Jackson's if that's alright? His mom already said that she could provide transportation and everything. But I mean if you want us to drop Stiles back here when it's over, it might be late but I'm sure-"  
>"It's fine. As long as you have a sober ride, I'm okay with Stiles going."<br>"I'm not,"  
>"Great," Derek grinned, flashing his teeth, "thanks!"<p>

"Just keep an eye on him, alright?"  
>"Dad," Stiles withered from embarrassment.<p>

"You got it."

"I'll be upstairs, come see me before you leave."

When the Sheriff was upstairs, Stiles turned towards Derek, "I'm not going."  
>"Of course you are,"<br>"No."

"I haven't seen you all week and now you don't want to go to a party with me?"

"Whose fault was that?"

"Shut up. Go get dressed and say bye to your Dad."

"Are we really staying at Jackson's?"  
>"Yeah, but we'll have to walk the two blocks, they're in the Caribbean. Come on, I told Jackson we'd be there."<br>"We? How'd you know I was going?"

"It was predestined."  
>"Yeah, well you're still no God."<p>

"Stiles, go!"

He padded up the stairs and took the right turn towards his room. He threw on a shirt that read "Jenius" and threw on a blue flannel over it. He settled for jeans and a pair of old sneakers. He walked in gave his father a hug and kiss and told him that he'd call when they got there and then to Jackson's.

Derek was waiting in the Camaro for him as he stuffed his bag with essentials: extra clothes, phone charger, gum, toothbrush, ten dollars and lots and lots of water.

They stopped at an empty Hale house. Derek picked his infamous black shirt, jeans and lacrosse warm up jacket. They decided to walk to the Twins' so they wouldn't have to worry about the car in the morning.

It was a good party. Everyone was there. Even Scott and Isaac. Allison and Kira. Lydia and Jackson, Boyd, Erica, Liam, Mason, Danny, the whole crew. Music, conversations, alcohol, shots. The typical, "My Parents Are Letting Me Throw A Banger" High School Party. It was around four in the morning when Derek and Stiles decided they should start heading home. Or rather to Jackson's. They said bye to everybody who was still there, which wasn't many. Jackson had left with Danny, leaving Stiles and Derek to walk alone. Derek, though still pretty intoxicated, wasn't quite as bad as Stiles, who had been coaxed into doing Fireball by Lydia and the rest of the girls. They weren't totally wasted out of their mind. Every step was a slight bump into one another, eventually they had to hold hands to avoid losing each other in the dark.

"What did we drink?"

"You didn't no drugs, right?" Stiles asked with a straight face.

"No."

Derek laughed, so Stiles giggled.

And the two giggling idiots cut through the park to avoid walking by the police station at the end of the street. The trail twisted and turned all through the park. But right on the other side was Jackson's street.

"Don't you have practice tomorrow?"  
>Stiles asked, leaning slightly forward and away from Derek. He steadied himself, his feet catching up to his body.<p>

"No. We got the day off because of the win. It was against the Panthers, so it was a huge deal I guess."  
>"Oh. Are you mad I missed it?"<br>"No. I mean, I would have liked it if you were there. You would have enjoyed it."  
>"But you only scored three goals."<br>"Yeah."  
>"You must'a played like shit."<br>"Thanks Stiles," Derek smiled.

"I wasn't babysitting," Stiles said, losing his balance again.

Derek quickly reached out and took hold of Stiles' arm, pulling him upright and into his chest.

"Here," he said, guiding him over to the park bench on the side of the path, "let's sit down for a while."  
>"But we're almost there, I can taste it!" He claimed, though he was already sitting next to Derek.<p>

"Cora got a hundred on her spelling test," Derek said, feeling the need to update Stiles on everything he had missed.

"Really? She even got the would 'rambunctious' right?"

"Rambunctious?"  
>"It was a Challenge Word."<br>"I don't know."  
>"We practiced that one for a while."<p>

"You're rambunctious."  
>"You're an idiot."<br>"Stiles-"  
>"Derek...your name kind of reminds me of beef."<p>

He couldn't help but laugh. And it was a sober laugh, Stiles did too. They were talking now. And though the words were being encouraged by alcohol, they were real and conscious.

They sat there for a while talking about school, and their friends, what they loved about them and what annoyed them.

I love Jackson, really. He's such a jock sometimes though. Like he forgets about us just to hang out with the "popular kids"."

"I know, tell me about it. We were supposed to go to lunch and he invited that kid from the football team. I mean, I knew him, but talk about awkward."

"But he's such a sweet guy. He always stands up for us, no matter who or what. And he really loves us. I can tell."

They talked about Stiles' mom and his Dad and Derek talked about his family and Laura and his Uncle Peter. He told Stiles that they were all werewolves and the both of them laughed. They finally stood up to leave when Derek brushed up against Stiles' bare arm. He had lost his flannel somewhere along in the night. Derek scoffed and slid off his jacket and handed it out to Stiles. He took it gratefully.

"You're the best Derek, thanks."

He just snorted.

"That was a good talk."  
>"It was. It was well needed too."<p>

Stiles tucked himself beneath Derek's arm. He had a strange feeling that he was doing something that he wasn't supposed to be doing, but when Derek leaned against him, that melted away and the feeling was soon forgotten about. They walked in a comfortable silence and made it there in under five minutes. Danny and Jackson were still up, snacking and watching a movie. The two joined them, and they all eventually fell asleep on top of each other on the couch to 22 Jump Street playing on a loop.

It was a good night.


End file.
